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General Shang
General Shang is the anti-villainous main antagonist of the 2016 Oscar-winning science fantasy film Arrival, based on the 1998 short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang. He is the protective, but violent general of the Chinese military who seeks to protect his people and country by any means necessary, even if it means betraying allies or attacking the peaceful aliens that have arrived on Earth. He was portrayed by Tzi Ma. History Past While most of his past is unknown, it is known that General Shang was happily married before his wife passed away, which proved to be a very upsetting and traumatic moment in his life and may have been a reason he became so cold. The Aliens Arrive One day, twelve alien ships landed on Earth, their intentions unknown, with one landing in China. General Shang was sent to oversee the operations surrounding the craft, and was ready to attack if the aliens proved to be hostile. Despite his clear distrust for the aliens, Shang allowed linguists and researchers to study the aliens and their craft, especially trying to discover a means of communication and potentially understanding their language. However, Shang and the linguists tried to convey communication through games of mahjong, which the other countries feared could lead to the aliens believing humans were nothing more than competition. Despite this, the Chinese were able to decipher some of the alien "heptapod's" language. Fear Operations ran smoothly until one day when they asked the heptapods their purpose on Earth, to which the heptapods cryptically replied "use weapon". This scared Shang and his superiors, leading them to decide to betray their allies in the rest of the world and cut off all communication with them and the aliens. Shang then made a public statement and threat, demanding the aliens leave Chinese territory or they would be destroyed. Russia, Pakistan, and Sudan follow suit. Redemption Before Shang carries out his threat to destroy the aliens, he gets a call from American linguist Louise Banks on his private phone number telling him his wife's dying words, which, translated from Mandarin, are: "In war there are no winners, only widows". This softens Shang's heart, stand down, and makes him realize that Louise has a gift. It is not until later that he realizes that, because she mastered the heptapod's language, she began to perceive time as they do, and is able to see the past and the future. She looked into the future to a point where she shared with General Shang and learned his number and words to say. Many Years Later Because of the heptapods, all countries have to ally to decipher their language, and eventually, a sustained peace is created. Louise and Shang attend an international ball celebrating the unity, where Shang thanks her and gives her his private phone number and tells her his wife's dying words, knowing her past self will need them when she looks to that point in the future. Personality General Shang is more protective and paranoid than he is malicious, and is mostly concerned about the safety of his country and people. He is, however, ready and able to go to great lengths to achieve this goal, including betraying allies and becoming potentially violent towards the aliens simply over a misunderstanding. Despite this, he is shown to be quite kind and honorable, and changes his mind when people treat him with respect and show him the error of his ways, which he admits is difficult to do. Gallery Images arrival163.jpg 006 Tzi Ma as General Shang.jpg backward-causation-1506005286.jpg Video Arrival Trailer (2016) - Paramount Pictures Category:Anti-Villain Category:Grey Zone Category:Villains by Proxy Category:Movie Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Male Category:Military Category:Protective Category:Guardians Category:Friend of a Hero Category:Honorable Category:Charismatic Category:Affably Evil Category:Homicidal Category:Xenophobes Category:Jingoists Category:Traitor Category:Paranoid Category:Lawful Neutral Category:Extremists Category:Wealthy Category:Aristocrats Category:Spouses Category:Tragic Category:Science Fantasy Villains Category:Minion Category:Necessary Evil Category:On & Off Category:Karma Houdini Category:Redeemed Category:In Love